Insanity
This is the seventh episode of Vale, season 6. Written by Rainy. Read, enjoy, & comment! '' '' ''Insanity'' Fire watched Dewstar, Hollystrike, and Goldenburst rushing around, trying to implement some form of organization amidst the chaos the camp had dissolved into once word had gotten around that Breezeflight and Ryan had been captured. In a prior life, she might've been baffled, even annoyed by the pandemonium--didn't they understand they were only hindering progress? Now, she fully understood; it was only her lifelong habit of restraining herself giving her the strength to remain rooted to the spot, standing up straight so that Aldereyes could lean against her. Every other part of her was dying to tear away from the father who had abandoned her and go charging after Viperstar. She couldn't fight back the waves of guilt rolling over her. This was all her fault. She couldn't silence the part of her mind screaming that she should've let Aldereyes die, that she owed him nothing at all. But she couldn't stop thinking about Ariel, either. Her brave, selfless sister, who had forfeited a chance of escaping the League -- something that would've saved her life -- so that she could bind the monster that had apparently lay underneath them for so long, so that she could buy everyone, including her selfish sister, a little more time. Ariel wouldn't have let anyone be murdered in cold blood in the dirt right in front of her. She would never have crouched behind a rock, like Fire did, when Ariel herself was killed. Fire didn't know if she could have lived with herself if she let the last of her family be executed in front of her eyes. Breezeflight, Ryan, even Josh, had all leaped to her aid because that's what they did; they were just natural-born heroes and true friends. They'd helped her rescue her father. And now Breezeflight and Ryan were paying for Fire's actions... Unbelievable. Even when she won, she lost. "Fire?" said a small voice. Fire turned and saw, to her utter astonishment, a pale, frail-looking Brightpaw. "Brightpaw? What are you... You're out of the medicine cat's den," she blurted. "She's not supposed to be," called Blossomleaf as she bustled past, carrying herbs to restock her supplies. "You can have five minutes to talk, and then I want you back in your nest resting," she added to Brightpaw. A trace of the apprentice's former rebellious spirit flashed in her eyes as she waved Blossomleaf off, but it was quickly replaced by deep concern. "I heard. About Breezeflight." Shaking her head, Fire said, "I'm so sorry. But -- and excuse my forwardness -- the last time I saw you, you were unconscious and looked like you were about to, well, die. What's going on?" Brightpaw shut her eyes momentarily. "Did you dream about her?" "Who?" "Ariel." Trying to ignore the physical spasm of pain that went through her at the name, Fire said, "I did, but... did you? You never knew Ariel." "I think she's trying to help us, guide us through this, but she can only appear to each one of us for a little while," said Brightpaw uncertainly. "She didn't explain much to me; there wasn't time." "Did she mention something called a Death-Stone?" asked Fire. Frowning, Brightpaw said, "No, but that doesn't mean she wouldn't have if she could. She did say that this weakness, or... sickness, or whatever it is, will only get worse for all of us. Our powers are being drained and turned against us; eventually we'll all be incapacitated. But for now, each one of us will be hit in turn." "But I'm fine--or no worse than usual," Fire corrected herself. She had gotten a lot better at controlling her power, blocking out the constant twinges of pain that used to afflict her whenever she was around numerous cats, and learning to hone in on a single cat in order to figure out what was wrong with them. When she tried narrowing her focus on Brightpaw, she could feel the battering the apprentice's body had taken, the ache in Brightpaw's muscles and bones, as if the very seams of her were coming unraveled. "I'm glad you are. But if it's not your turn to be sick..." Their eyes met. Fire didn't think it was possible for her to feel worse about what had happened last night, yet apparently it was. "Ryan." - - - - "Ryan." My voice sounded strange and squeaky, high-pitched with fear. I placed my paws on his shoulders and shook him, hard. "Ryan, wake up." Poolpaw and Petalpaw's wide eyes gleamed in the shadows of our prison. "What's wrong with him?" asked Petalpaw, her voice quavering with fear. I let out a hiss of frustration, ignoring them as I focused on the collapsed form in front of me. "No, no, no. You can't do this to me now. You can't leave me. Ryan, come back. Please, please." "He's unconscious," said Wolf softly, pulling me back. In spite of the Tribe markings on his face and his muscular build, he looked surprisingly sympathetic, as if he understood the pain I was in. But he couldn't. No one could. I reached out and wiped a trickle of blood away from Ryan's mouth, praying for his eyes to flutter open at my touch. They didn't. I let out a growl of anger and sprang at the walls of the pit. It was pointless, of course; even if I got out of the pit, all of GreenClan would be upon me before I could take another step. Wolf, Poolpaw, and Petalpaw watched my futile tantrum for several minutes, till two broken claws and a face scraped raw from slamming into the rock-studded floor forced me to halt my efforts. "We tried. All of that. We tried setting ourselves free through pure, raw emotion. It didn't work. The desperation passes eventually, and then despair sets in," said Poolpaw in a surprisingly hollow voice. I guess that her initial joy at seeing us was now being replaced by the devastating realization that we had no clue what we were doing, that we couldn't even save ourselves, let alone her and her sister. Guilt coursed through me. I was behaving like a kit. There was no time to shed any tears for Ryan, not if I wanted to save his life, as well as the others' lives. "Shut up, Poolpaw," said Petalpaw. She turned to me and said, "How are Owlkit and Vixenkit?" My mind, still focused on Ryan, took a minute to process the change of topic. "They're all right. Chamomile is taking care of them, since she's expecting her own kits soon. I heard that Owlkit has been refusing to speak, though. It must be the trauma, everyone he's lost." Petalpaw winced. "He needs us. He needs his older sisters. See?" she added fiercely, turning on her sister. "We still have something to live for. You can't give up, Poolpaw." "She's right," I said, feeling like a hypocrite. "We have to get out of here." Wolf looked relieved; I got the feeling that being surrounded by a bunch of emotionally scarred Clan cats had been rather tedious for him. We formed a circle, with me sitting beside Ryan with my tail lying across his chest, so I could feel the beat-beat of his heart and the exhale of his breath, just to make sure. "Okay. I want the three of you to tell me everything about this prison," I said, looking from Wolf to Poolpaw to Petalpaw in turn. "When they feed you, who feeds you, what you know about GreenClan's routine. Anything." They complied. We stayed up for hours, stating, summarizing, theorizing. Every so often, one of us would suggest a plan, and the rest of us would pick it to pieces. It was a very discouraging process. "Shh," said Poolpaw abruptly. Up till now, she hadn't been participating in the discussion at all, merely staring dejectedly at the wall. But her ears swiveled up towards the edge of the pit, and the rest of us fell silent instantly. A white she-cat with a cruel expression, whom I recognized from past encounters, none of them pleasant, was peering down at us. She pointed a paw directly at me. "You." "What do you want with her?" asked Wolf suspiciously. "Nothing good," Petalpaw said grimly, moving to stand in front of me. I couldn't stop the lump that rose in my throat at the sight of this malnourished, thin little apprentice trying to protect me -- but no way was I going to let her. Gently, I pushed her aside and took her place. "You can't go," whispered Wolf. "We need the both of us to take care of the rest of them." "I really doubt she's going to give me much of a choice, if Viperstar wants to question me. Listen, I know I don't know you, but... can you take care of him for me?" I looked at Ryan, then added, "All of them. Please." Wolf's steely blue eyes met mine. He nodded once. "Good luck," he said in a voice completely lacking emotion, and I remembered with a pang of fear that he'd been tortured for the Tribe's part of the Prophecy of Rocks, that he knew the worst of what GreenClan could do. I couldn't let myself say good-bye to the others; I wouldn't be able to leave if I did. I took a running leap and barely grazed the edge of the pit. A pair of claws fastened into my neck-scruff and hauled me up: a burly GreenClan tom threw me at the paws of the white she-cat. "She's all yours, Snowfox." "Great. Wait outside the cell, but don't come in unless I tell you to. This she-cat has things we need, and I'm going to enjoy getting them out of her." Snowfox's amber eyes gleamed with a manic light. I was jostled roughly into a small cavern at the corner of the camp, presumably the cell. Snowfox flexed, allowing me a close look at her razor-sharp claws. I felt my mouth go dry. Bravery in battle was one thing; it was different when you were fighting one-on-one, adrenaline coursing through your veins. This required a very different, cold-blooded sort of stoicism. If I tried to fight, I would be subdued by the waiting guards outside. But could I bear to stand there and let her savage me? What could I endure? Only now was I realizing that I had never been tested thoroughly, that even after all I'd gone through, there were a few unbroken parts of me. For now. "Finally. The last warrior is not fearless, is she? That is who you are, right? You're the missing piece of the Prophecy. You're what Viperstar needs, and once I've handed you to him, I will be his hero," said Snowfox gleefully. "I don't know anything about the Prophecy. I didn't even know I was the last warrior." "You don't need to know much to fulfill your job. But you're a warrior of SpringClan, and if I understand correctly, one of Dewstar's favorites. You are valuable, Breezeflight." Without warning, the left side of my face exploded in a world of pain. I stumbled but managed not to fall as red waves of agony coursed through me. "That was just my paw. There are other weapons. Stones, for one. And claws. Cats scream louder from claws than from simple blows. Blood hurts over bruises, I guess." I ran my tongue around the inside of my mouth, making sure no teeth had been dislocated. Other than the salty tang of blood oozing from a cut on my cheek, I was okay. "You're a psychopath." "Not a psychopath," she said calmly, "just goal driven. You hold the key, whether you know it or not, to the Death-Stone." "What's the Death-Stone?" "Ironically, you are the only cat who can fully answer that question. I'm sure you're a catalyst... without you, the other three are useless. But how does it work?" I curled my lip at her and said nothing. Even if I had any idea what she was talking about, did she honestly think I would tell her? Perhaps I could trick her into giving more away about GreenClan's plans. "Snowfox!" My heart lurched as Viperstar stepped into the small cell, his dark pelt nearly blending in with the shadows. "What are you doing?" the leader asked accusingly. Snowfox looked the closest to being afraid I'd ever seen her. "I -- Questioning the prisoner, Viperstar. She may help us--" "Don't be absurd. She knows nothing, and the longer we keep it that way, the surer we are that she can't thwart us. Don't underestimate the ability of a SpringClan warrior to cause trouble. They're very persistent, flawed as they might be in other respects." "Viperstar, perhaps I didn't explain well..." "You explained fine." Viperstar's eyes glittered eerily. "But you fail to grasp the scope of my plans. You're near-sighted enough to believe you can use this as an opportunity to bolster your own status. It's about so much more than that, Snowfox. Each of our souls is like... a grain of sand compared to the lash of universe we could unleash." "You want to unleash the universe?" I couldn't help but interrupt. "Ah, Breezeflight. You are a great warrior, you know, or at least you could be. Love, I fear, is a greater fetter than any other. You are blinded and crippled by it. You could be so much'' more."'' "Is this your attempt to convince me to go along with whatever your delusional plan is for me, instead of fighting fang and claw?" "It does not matter, in the end. After we get what we want, you are disposable." "At least you're honest." It was then that it happened. A tremor, through the ground, hardly noticeable at first. A few pebbles came loose from the packed earth and rattled against the walls. "What was that?" Viperstar hissed. Without stopping for an answer, not that either of us could've given him one, he turned and raced out. I seized my opportunity. I sprang at Snowfox while she was looking after Viperstar, slamming her head against the wall hard enough to knock her out cold. Then I bolted through the GreenClan camp, which was in such a state of chaos that no one even stopped me. Queens were screaming for their kits, warriors were yelling conflicting orders at each other -- if this Clan hadn't ruined my life, I might have felt pity or wanted to help them. A hysterical she-cat shot past me, yelling, "Earthquake! Earthquake!" I reached the edge of the pit and looked down. "Quick, guys! We have to get out!" "In case you haven't noticed, the ground is shaking," Wolf called back up. "Exactly! If the roof caves in, you've got no chance," I hissed. Poolpaw and Petalpaw began climbing, but Wolf hesitated. "What about him?" I looked at Ryan, still motionless, and felt my stomach dip. "Look," said Wolf, in a tone that clearly spelled out, You're not going to like what you're about to hear, "I might be strong, but even I can't leap these walls with him on my back." "We're not leaving him," I flared up instantly. "Are you not hearing me? We don't have a choice." "I'm coming down there. Maybe if both of us try it..." "Breezeflight." Poolpaw tapped me on the shoulder. "I hate to rush you, but we're running out of time. Someone's going to notice us sooner or later -- either that or the cavern's just going to swallow us up." Wolf looked up into my eyes and shook his head. "No. Stop right there." "What?" I demanded. "I know what you're thinking. Curling up down here with Ryan and dying with him would do no one any good, do you hear me? We have to get out." Wolf sprang out of the pit in a single leap; I imagined that, being from the mountain, he was used to bounding about. His face inches from mine, he whispered, "Listen, I've been where you've been. I know how much it hurts to leave someone behind. But there is a lot of life you've yet to live, and a Clan to live for. Don't throw yourself away." I barely knew Wolf, and I knew nothing about his past, but when I saw the tears glistening in his eyes, I couldn't even muster the strength to yell at him for suggesting I leave Ryan. So I chose to ignore whatever truth he was trying to preach, turning instead to the apprentices. Shoving Petalpaw, I said, "Get your sister out of here!" A scream pierced the air, an unfamiliar one, but the voice that shouted after it was recognizable. My breath caught in my throat as I beheld Dewstar, flanked by Hollyleaf, Minkears, and with what looked like half of SpringClan behind them, barge into the GreenClan camp, knocking aside sentries and only adding to the general din with their entrance. "The world is ending! Run for your lives!" A little GreenClan kit tottered past me on short legs. Hearing a queen shouting her daughter's name somewhere to my right, I put the pieces together and snatched up the kit, delivering her to her mother. The GreenClan queen gave me a look of questioning uncertainty, as if a world where enemy warriors took pity on moon-old kits was foreign to her, and then yanked her daughter up and ran without so much as a thank-you. "Breezeflight!" Fire, Minkears, and Brightpaw were in front of me in the blink of an eye. "Are you okay? Where's Ryan?" "Down there. He just collapsed, I don't know what's wrong," I babbled. "We do, but we'll explain later," said Brightpaw grimly. "Will he be okay?" "For now, we just have to worry about getting him out of here. That's our job." "And everyone else?" "Er, cause chaos to provide cover. But -- correct me if I'm wrong -- we don't have the power to actually shake the Earth. What's doing that?" "I don't know." I hadn't really given much thought to it, but hearing Brightpaw voice the question triggered a pang of unease, as if this were something more sinister than an earthquake. "I don't really want to find out." "Good plan. Okay, here's what we're going to do. Cherryfall's taken Poolpaw and Petalpaw out through the tunnels, so we can focus on Ryan. Breezeflight and you, you look strong," Fire gestured to Wolf, "will lift him, and Minkears and I will pull him up. Easy, see?" "Oh, absolutely," Wolf grumbled, and promptly dived back into the pit, landing as gracefully as a... graceful cat who would never crash land, stagger across the floor and smash her nose into the opposite wall, thus giving herself a copius nosebleed, then attempt to act like nothing had happened while blood dripped down her face. Which I most certainly did not do, but hypothetically speaking... Fire, clearly stifling an eye-roll, said, "Okay guys, on the count of three. One, two... three!" Wolf and I had positioned ourselves so that Ryan lay draped across our shoulders, and now we straightened our legs to hoist him upwards. I felt his weight being jostled slightly as Minkears and Fire tried to get a good grip on him, and then he was airborn. Wolf and I scrambled up after him; once, Minkears almost dropped Ryan's head, but Wolf caught him and gently pushed him up the rest of the way. "We made it!" I let out a yell of triumph when we hit level ground -- before promptly remembering that it wasn't level ground at all. We were still inside the GreenClan camp underground, and it could become a tomb at any second. Some of GreenClan had evacuated, but Viperstar's sentries were stopping the others from leaving -- and I hated to admit it, but SpringClan was making things worse, distracting GreenClan cats with their attack and making it harder to coordinate an escape. "Dewstar!" I yelled. The tom's green eyes brightened when he saw me. "Breezeflight! Thank the stars you're okay -- I'm so sorry for everything I said--" "It doesn't matter now," I said in a rush. "Dewstar, something's happening... The tunnels feel like they're about to cave in. We have to get everyone out of here. You need to call off the attack." "Sound the retreat," Dewstar told Hollystrike and Nighthawk, who began relaying the message. "How do we get GreenClan out of here? This is their home." "I think the queens and elders will listen quicker. Their nests are up there, along the sides of the well. As for the warriors, leave them to me." A faint groan at my paws made me forget all my responsibilities. "Ryan?" His eyelids fluttered slightly, revealing the thinnest strip of gold. "Breezeflight?" "You're... you're okay... I thought I'd lost ''you, you dung-brain, I hate you, how could you ''do ''that to me?" And with a sob, I buried my face in his neck. Utterly bewildered, Ryan nevertheless held me tight; I was the one who had to force myself to pull away. "I'm sorry. I have to save other cats." The tiniest of smiles tugged at his mouth. "The drawbacks of loving a hero." And maybe there was no point in saying it then, when we could die in the blink of an eye, but there was no point in holding it back either -- I'd done that for too long and for no reason. There was no reason good enough to keep us apart, and somehow it took being in the very pit of hell on Earth for me to realize it -- then again, I was always incredibly slow at these types of things. "I love you, Ryan. I always have. I always will." I touched my nose to his, and for the sweetest of heartbeats, we were the only two cats in the world. "But I've got to go. I'll see you soon. Can you take him?" I asked Fire. She shook her head stoically. "I'm staying with you." "I've got it. Both of you, go, and hurry," Wolf said, helping an unsteady Ryan to his paws. The black tom looked at me, his mouth opening slightly, but I knew if I lingered a second longer, I wouldn't be able to tear myself away. Shouldering Fire, I said hurriedly, "Come on," and the two of us made for the GreenClan warriors' nests. "You get the cats outside. Tell them to quit trying to fight and get out. I'll get the ones inside," I said. "Got it." Fire ran up to a pair of GreenClan warriors who were trying to fight Bluebird and let out a barrage of hideous insults to catch their attention. Meanwhile, I ducked into the sheltered crevice where most warriors had set up their nests. Only three or four remained inside, crouched against the back wall, exposed fangs gleaming. I approached slowly, trying not to appear threatening. "I know I'm SpringClan," I said. "I know you have no reason to trust me. But this place is falling apart. Viperstar won't protect you. He's obsessed with... with power. You're not safe here." "You're the prisoner. It's Breezeflight," said a young tom, his eyes lighting up with fevered determination. "It's the last warrior." He sprang at me. I stifled a groan of pain as his weight hit my shoulder; I slipped under him and used his momentum to flip him onto his back, pinning him down with two paws. No more playing nice. "If I'm the last warrior," I growled in his face, "do you really want to be the first casualty?" "I'm going with her, Stripefoot," burst out a she-cat. "I can't stay here any longer." She took a step forward just as the ground gave a particularly violent lurch, and pitched headlong into the rock wall. "Fernwhisker!" The suddenness of Stripefoot's cry made me release him; he immediately ran to the crumpled she-cat and helped her up. There was a thin trickle of blood running down her muzzle, but she seemed relatively unharmed -- just terrified. "Let's go. Quickly," said an older warrior, a white-muzzled she-cat. Her eyes met mine. "My name is Fleetfoot. Stripefoot was my apprentice, and Fernwhisker is my niece. If you get them out, there are no borders between us. I will stand with you." I nodded briskly. "Come on." I led the three GreenClan cats out of the crevice, but that was as far as we got before it happened. The camp wasn't half evacuated. Cats were arguing, crying, begging each other to stay or to leave. And it was into the midst of this chaos that the beast rose. In the middle of the cylindrical underground well, the ground broke apart. Cats screamed as rocks and rubble flew in all directions. Boulders came loose from the walls and came crashing down, exploding into smithereens. Stripefoot curled his body around Fernwhisker as shrapnel pelted us, gouging cuts along our pelts and covering us in dust. "This is insanity." Fleetfoot sounded almost in awe as she gazed about. "Are we witnessing the end of the world?" I heard a voice shriek my name, and reached out to catch Brightpaw as she flew into me. She was the last cat I expected to see, and the last cat I wanted to see. "What are you still doing here?" I demanded. She should've been the first cat to evacuate. "You should be in the medicine cat's den!" There were tears in her eyes, and she was so distressed she could hardly speak. "We thought wrong. We were so wrong, Breezeflight. We thought we needed all of us -- me, Ryan, and Fire -- and we could stop this. But it's the opposite, isn't it?" My blood ran cold. "What do you mean?" "''He needed us. Right here. He needed our powers. And now he can... awaken..." Brightpaw trailed off. Out of the tear in the ground, a giant head was rising. A pointed nose, a mouth lined with serrated fangs, a glistening forked black tongue tasting the damp earthen air. The snake's eyes opened: thin bands of burning gold around deep black pits for pupils -- like caverns ringed with fire. The creature who I'd seen in my nightmares. Claws sunk into my back, and suddenly I was being spun around, looking right into Viperstar's eyes. "Breezeflight, the last warrior, I think it is time you meet the keeper of the Death-Stone." I could see the snake's massive head reflected in Viperstar's mad gaze. The tom's voice was almost a croon as he leaned into my face, his lips curled in a cruel smile. "It's all over now." The End Category:Vale